Leonhart
by Falkyn
Summary: A story about Leon's mysterious past. I changed some storyline events to better suit my purposes. Just thought I'd warn you about that before I got complaints. ActionAdventure with a bit of comedy thrown in.
1. Prologue

Author's Note: By the time I post this, I'll already have most of the story finished and waiting to follow its brother, The Prologue. I'll just wait a while between each chapter to maximize reader to nonreader ratio, whatever that means. Just, continue reading. Go on, read the boring disclaimer telling you that I don't own the Kingdom Hearts franchise. No! Don't read the boring author's note telling you to read the boring disclaimer telling you that I don't own the Kingdom Hearts franchise! Fine! Be that way! Do whatever you want, see if I care! (Turns back to readers and pouts.) Meanies!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. No one fully does. It's just a giant conglomeration of Disney movies and previous Square Enix games with a few original characters and worlds thrown into the mix. Hate to break it to you diehard fans of the games, but it's true. Nevertheless, it's still an awesome game, and I still don't own it. Well, technically I do. I mean, I own the game. All three of them, in fact. I just don't own the rights to it. Um… yeah. You get my drift. READ ON!

With a yell, Leon slashed his gunblade through Heartless after Heartless.

"Well, that's the last of them," he said, turning to Tifa, who was readjusting her gloves.

"Not quite," she responded, nodding in the direction of the run down castle across the crevasse. "Cid says there's still a pretty large on in there."

With a sigh, Leon hefted his weapon onto his shoulder and walked towards the makeshift bridge the Restoration Committee had put across the crevasse. That's right, a giant log.

"What are we waiting for then?" he said in his usual blunt manner. Tifa shrugged, then followed.

Leon grunted as he was flung back into a wall by the colossal, gorilla-like Heartless he and Tifa were fighting. Breathing heavily, he pushed himself off the ground, only to be slammed against the wall again as Tifa was thrown back into him.

"It's no use!" she exclaimed. "This thing is too powerful.! We need Sora to kill it!" Leon nodded, and took out his walkie talkie.

"Merlin," he said. "We've run into a bit of a problem. We need you to summon Sora ASAP. When he gets here, tell him to come to the great hall of Maleficent's castle. We need his help."

"I'm on it," came the response. Leon turned to Tifa.

"He should be here in about ten minutes. We're on our own until then." Tifa nodded, then charged the giant Heartless again. Again, she was slammed into the wall with a vicious backhand. Concerned, Leon rushed to her side.

"You okay?" he asked, helping her up.

"Yeah," she answered through clenched teeth. "But I think that I broke a rib or two."

Then, the giant Heartless appeared over them, raising its fists above its head in preparation for the kill. Leon cringed, trying to think of a way to escape.

_So this is how it ends,_ he thought. _I'm sorry, Rinoa._

Suddenly, someone yelled and came flying past the two fighters to deliver a flying kick to the giant Heartless' chest. Still yelling, the person threw a few punches into the gorilla's stomach and a sweeping kick to the feet, followed by an elbow drop to the head. Satisfied it was dead, the figure walked over to Leon and Tifa.

"Wow, Squall. You've gotten soft," he said with a smirk on his face.

Author's End Note: How'd you like it? Kudos _and _mad props to whoever can guess who the mysterious "stranger" is. See you next update.


	2. A Visit From a Friend

Author's Note: Whatever.

Disclaimer: See the Prologue. 'Nuff said.

"What are you doing here?" Leon asked the stranger.

"Gee, I spend a year searching world after world after world for you, and all I get when I finally find you, all you can say is 'What are you doing here?' That's very bad manners, Squall. The least you could do is introduce me to your friend. Though in all actuality, I'd prefer a dinner invitation."

"Leon, who is this man and why is he calling you Squall?"

"Yes, Squall, who am I and why am I calling you Squall?"

"I see you're as annoying as ever, Zell," Leon said.

"It's nice to see you again too, Squall."

"Help me get Tifa back to our base of operations. She needs to be healed."

"Ooh! Base of operations. Sounds so sophisticated."

"Zell just shut up and help me move Tifa! She needs medical attention right now!"

"Why didn't you say so?" Zell turned to Tifa, focused for a bit, then thrust his hand in her direction. "Cure!" he shouted. Green sparks of magical energy shot from his hand and danced around Tifa's head, healing the several injuries she had sustained from the battle.

"Wait a minute," Leon said. Zell looked up from his "patient". "I thought you need a GF to use magic."

"So?"

"Aren't you worried about the memory loss?"

"Relax. I haven't summoned any yet. I only brought them just in case."

"Which ones did you bring?"

"I brought Shiva, because she's your favorite, Diablo, because he's mine, Carbuncle and Tonberry, because anything that's cute and useful at the same time cannot be denied, and Doomtrain, because it's frickin' awesome. Oh yeah, and um… Eden."

"You brought Eden with you? What are you, crazy? The last time we summoned it, it almost destroyed the Garden!" Leon exclaimed.

"Well, I said they were last ditch efforts, didn't I?" Zell responded.

"Who are you?" Tifa asked, confused.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Zell said, bowing low. "Zell Dincht, martial arts expert and all around awesome guy, at your service."

"And he's humble, too," Tifa laughed.

"Whoever told you that? Because they were lying," Zell responded with a smile.

"What's a GF?"

"It's short for Guardian Force. They're powerful beings we can summon from the spirit world to perform a deadly attack at the cost of a memory or two. So long as we don't summon anything too often, we usually get them back, though."

"What's the matter with this Eden thing?"

"It's the most powerful GF ever discovered. It's so powerful, in fact, that it takes seven people to control it."

" Why do you call Leon Squall?"

"Why do you call Squall Leon?"

"I asked you first."

"Finally, I got her to say something that wasn't a question!"

At the break in the conversation, Sora came running through the door, Keyblade at the ready.

"I'm here, Leon!" he called, looking around for his friends. Seeing a stranger standing over them, he assumed Zell was the Heartless that had attacked them and rushed at him.

Zell, seeing a kid running towards him, back flipped over the attack and swept his attacker's feet out from under him with a well placed kick. Before Sora could recover, Zell placed his foot on the young warrior's chest, effectively pinning him to the ground.

"What's with the squirt?" Zell asked Leon nonchalantly.

"Zell, meet the Keyblade master, Sora." Zell looked at Sora, sizing him up.

"Kinda scrawny. This is what you left the group for? A less cool (though somewhat hotter) female version of me and a kid who uses a giant key for a weapon? I must say, Squall, I am very deeply insulted."

"Scrawny!" Sora shouted angrily. "Let me up! I'll show you who's scrawny!"

"Shut up kid. The adults are talking," Zell responded.

"Let him up, Zell," Leon said.

Sighing, Zell lifted his foot. Sora immediately jumped up and tried to tackle Zell, who responded with a roundhouse kick to the back of the head, sending Sora sprawling forward.

"Enough," Leon said, stepping forward to help Sora up. "Don't attack him any more Sora."

"Who is he?" Sora asked.

"This is Zell. He's an old friend of mine."

"I'm not really all that old. Squall's just a pathological liar," Zell said.

"What's he doing her?"

"Ugh! Again with the questions!" Zell exclaimed, exasperated. "Listen, Squall. I'm only explaining this once, so if you have any more friends who are going to want to play twenty questions with me, let's go ahead and get it over with."

"Right. Come on, we're going back to Merlin's house. If I know you, Zell, you'll be hungry. We can have lunch there while you tell us all about why you're here," Leon said.

"Yes! Food! That's the first good thing I've heard you say today, Squall."

Author's End Note: Oh yeah! Don't I just rock? Feel free to shower me with adoration and praise. Review form will do nicely, though if you're a hot chick, you can do it in real life. I will also accept gifts (so long as they're nice). Flames will be tolerated, unless they give third degree burns. Then they shall be suffered through. See you next update.


	3. Conversation

Author's Note: (Author begins to blab about story line so far, which is almost non-existent. That will be partially fixed in this chapter. Just a sec. Nope, author's still talking. This will take a while folks. Just be patient. And… now.) I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1. Ditto.

Later, at Merlin's house, (Wow, who would have guessed?) the Restoration Committee were all watching as Zell ate ravenously, some in shocked surprise, some with disgust, some with approval, and one with disinterest. This last one was Leon, who had already seen the display of big-mouthery and hollow-leggedness several times before. A stunned Cloud leaned over to ask Leon a question.

"Does he always eat like this?" he asked. Nodding, Leon answered.

"This is nothing. You should see him around hotdogs. You get used to it eventually, though."

Meanwhile, Zell was finishing his meal. Taking a last deep swig (Swig? What is he, a pirate?) out of the cup he had been drinking from, he let out a large, deep belch. After a few seconds of stunned silence, Cid began to clap.

"Whoowhee!" (or whatever it is he says) he exclaimed. "This boy sure knows how to hold his grub. Where'd you find this kid, Leon?"

"He and I used to live on the same world," was all Leon gave for an answer.

"A couple of friends of ours and us saved it a few years back," Zell added proudly. Leon rolled his eyes.

"What did you save it from?" Yuffie asked.

"We had to kill a sorceress," Leon said bluntly.

"Actually, we had to kill three," Zell continued for him. "Edea, Adel, and that last one who dressed like a slut whose name I can never remember. What was it now? Oh, yeah, it was Ultimecia."

"Enough, Zell. I don't brag about it, why should you?"

"It's not bragging. It's the truth. Besides, I think we've earned a few bragging rights."

"Why did you come looking for Leon?" Aerith asked Zell.

"Because the Headmaster needs him."

"So he sent you after me?" Leon said.

"Not really, though I did request to be assigned to the party he sent out searching for you. Rinoa did too, but we were denied. They said something about us being to close to the mission, and how our emotions would get in the way. So we snuck out of the Garden instead."

"Why does the Headmaster want me?"

"There's a new sorceress, and she wants revenge for her predecessors. With Garden in the state it's in, she's been having a pretty easy time of it, too."

"Wait, if you weren't allowed to come, how'd you get here?"

"Oh," Zell said, obviously not prepared for this question. "Um… Rinoa and I sort of commandeered the Ragnarok." (Is that spelled right?)

"You what?" Leon asked incredulously.

"We commandeered the Ragnarok." Zell answered somewhat sheepishly.

"Zell, out of all the stupid things you've done, this one tops the list!" Leon shouted.

"What are you yelling at me for? It was her idea!" Zell yelled back.

"You should have stopped her!"

"If I hadn't gone with her, she'd have gone by herself! I did it to protect her! You know how lousy a fighter she is!"

"You should have told the Headmaster!"

"Oh, yeah, and have her bite my head off?"

'It's better than having me do it instead!"

"At least I can fight back if it's you!"

"Is that a challenge?" Leon asked, reaching for his gunblade.

"Do you want it to be?" Zell responded, raising his fists.

"Enough!" Merlin shouted, forcing them both back into their seats with a wave of his wand. "Both of you need to calm down!" The two fighters glared at each other, then huffed and sat back.

"Who's Rinoa?" Sora asked.

"Squall's girlfriend," Zell answered.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Leon roared.

"Temper, temper, Squall. If you don't calm down, Merlin's going to have to ask you to leave," Zell sarcastically responded to his friend's outrage.

"That's it!" Leon shouted as he stood up so quickly that his chair fell over. "I had to put up with this at the Garden! There's no way I'm going to put up with it here!" he finished, storming out of the house.

Amazed at Leon's sudden outburst, the rest of the Restoration Committee watched him stomp off into the distance. The only sound made was Cid's stunned whistle. Then, Yuffie broke the silence.

"That was amazing" she exclaimed to Zell, who was looking pleased with himself. "How'd you get such a rise out of him? I've been trying to do that for a year!"

"You just have to know how to get under his skin," the blonde martial artist answered.

"Why did you make him so angry? I thought you were his friend," Aerith said.

"I am his friend. That's why I did it. If I didn't piss him off, no one else would." Seeing the confused looks on their faces, Zell continued.

"When I first met Squall, it was at the orphanage where everyone in our group lived when they were younger. Back then, he wasn't as stoic with his emotions as he is now, but his only true friend was an older girl who he called 'Big Sis'. A few years later, everyone except for Squall had been adopted. That's when I'm guessing he started bottling his emotions up. I didn't see him again until I was eighteen, when we were both studying at Balamb Garden to become members of SeeD." He stopped when he saw more looks of confusion.

"SeeD is the elite military branch of mine and Squall's world," he explained.

"You mean like SOLDIER?" Cloud asked.

"Um, sure. Let's go with that. Anyways, by the time I saw Squall again, he was a loner who never showed any emotion.

"For our final exam before becoming SeeD's, we were assigned to the same team. The leader of that team was a stupid asshole who hated us both. When I was being my normal smart-assy self to the leader, Squall got so fed up with my sarcastic comments that he punched me. The asshole of a leader we had started to laugh, which made me so angry that I punched them both. After our scuffle, our 'leader' was unconscious, and Squall had finally showed some emotion. Whilst our leader was out cold, Squall and I talked, truly becoming friends. It turns out that his emotions had been bottled up so long, he needed to get pissed off before he would show any. He looked overdue for a good pissing off, so I provided him with one. He's gonna be somewhere, brooding, but when he comes back, he'll be more amiable.

"I did something like this to him all the time when we were saving our world. It was actually Rinoa's idea, but I was the only one was enough of a jack-ass to do it."

"Who is this Rinoa. You've mentioned her several times, and there's obviously something going on between her and Leon, but you've never really told us who she is," Tifa inquired.

"Oh crap!" Zell exclaimed "I forgot that I was supposed to call her when I had searched the area." He pulled a phone from his pocket and turned it on. After pushing a few buttons, he held the phone to his ear and waited for the other person to pick up.

"Hey Rinoa. Just checking in," he said when she answered.

"It's about time!" a female voice angrily responded. "What happened, did you find some more floozies?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Um, if you consider Squall a floozy, then yes."

"You found him?" Rinoa asked, all traces of anger gone.

"Yep. You want to come down? He's got a few friends who'd like to meet you."

"No, I'll stay up here. You sleeping down there?"

"Yeah. Who knows, maybe I'll find a couple of floozies," Zell answered with a grin.

"Asshole," was all Rinoa said in reply before hanging up.

"Love you too," Zell responded to the deadline. Then he put the phone up. "that answer your question?" he asked Tifa.

"Yeah, pretty much," she answered.

"Now, if none of you have anymore questions, I'm going to go find Squall," Zell said, standing up. "It always help to uncork his emotions if I apologized before he finished his brooding," he finished, walking out the door.

Author's End Notes: (Author begins to blab about the chapter. Why are you trying to listen to the author? The author has no life. I, however do. Listen to me. I promise I'll keep you entertained. Where are you going? You're choosing him? How rude! After all the boredom I've saved you from, this is how you repay me? Fine, go to your precious author. I don't care.) See you next update.


	4. You Say You Are No Hero

Author's Note: Sorry if there are any grammar or spelling mistakes or if the story just plain sucks. I'm writing this at two in the morning and I'm trying not to fall asleep. Just to add some variety to my dull, sleepless night, I'm going to type this entire chapter while standing up and not looking at the screen. I'll proofread it later. Read on.

Disclaimer: See chapter 2 and whatnot.

Leon sat on the edge of a window looking over the rundown castle, brooding. Why was it that Zell always made him so angry? Sure, they had grown to be friends on their journey, even to the point where they felt a certain brotherhood, but there was always that one time when Zell had to be an ass. What right did he have to do that? None at all. It didn't make any sense.

Suddenly, Zell appeared from behind Leon and sat down next to him. "Hey," was all he said. When met with a stony silence from his friend, he continued.

"Look, I'm sorry about what I did. It was wrong and immature and I was way out of line.

"Some friend I am. First time I see you in years, and right off the bat, I piss you off. I'm such a jerk," he finished. After a few seconds of silence, Leon responded.

"I know what you're doing, and I appreciate it. I just…need to be alone for a while longer."

"Sure thing, Squall," Zell said, standing up to leave.

"And don't call me Squall."

"Why not? It's your name."

"No, my name is Leon now."

"Um, no, you're name is Squall, and if you don't cut it out with this Leon shit, I'm gonna kick you're ass."

"Squall is the name of a hero. I don't deserve it, and I won't until I atone for the sins of my past."

"The sins of your past? Isn't that a bit melodramatic, Squall? What you did wasn't that bad, and it had to be done."

"I left all of Garden to die while I went off on my own selfish quest!"

"In case you don't remember, I told you to go. All of us did. The Headmaster even threatened to dock your pay if you didn't. If you hadn't gone, you would never have forgiven yourself. Your quest wasn't selfish. Finding your father was important to you. It was important to all of us."

"Garden would still be standing if I hadn't left."

"We can rebuild Garden! We can rebuild our lives. We can't rebuild a family so easily. If you hadn't gone, we would have disowned you as a coward. Wanting your family isn't a sin. Abandoning them is."

"I abandoned you. I abandoned our home and our friends and everything we've ever known. Tell me that isn't a sin."

"We told you to go. A choice was offered, you made a decision. I think it was the right one. Squall, you followed your heart. That's the least sinful thing anyone can ever do."

"Quit calling me Squall!"

"You say you don't deserve that name. You say it only fits a hero. I say it fits no one else better.

"You say you are no hero. I say look at what you've done here. I saw the pictures from before, I've heard the stories. The people here look up to you, Squall, as they do back home.

"You say you are no hero. I say you could never pass up the chance to help someone in need. That's what you did back home. That's what you're doing here.

"You say you are no hero, but I say you've always been one to me." With that, Zell turned to go.

"Oh, one more thing," he said before leaving his friend to his thoughts. "Irvine says hi."

Author's End Notes: Sorry it's so short, people. But you must remember, it's three in the morning, I'm tired, I'm hungry, the screen is changing colors on me, and I have a major craving for a pillow and a blanket. So I'm going to tell you to never stay up all night, go get some sleep, and leave you to your reading. See you next update.


	5. Rising from the Ashes

Author's Notes: I have a question for you. Who came up with the idea for an author's note? Every story I've ever read on this website has one. If you think about it, they're kind of pointless, though they can be rather amusing. Just thought I'd bring that up.

Disclaimer: See chapter 3 and so on and so forth.

Torn with indecision, Leon began to cry. He still felt guilty for his past actions, but Zell's words had given him hope. He had been forgiven, of that much, he was certain, but by how many people, he knew not. (Yoda talk! Whee!) Leon let these thoughts run through his head a while longer until…

"You're still here?" a cheerful voice sounded from behind him. Wiping his eyes, Leon turned around to see Yuffie standing there.

"Zell told me where you were," she said, sitting down next to him. "You've been out here for hours, and everyone was getting worried about you."

"I've just been thinking," Leon responded.

"Aerith gave me a blanket for you, in case you were cold."

"I'm fine. I was just about to go in anyway. Is Zell there now?"

"No. He said he didn't feel comfortable staying the night here after what he did and went back to his ship, but he left a package behind for you. It's back at the house." Leon stood up and left to go get his package. "Hey, Yuffie?" he said.

"Yes Leon?"

"Thanks. For everything. Oh, and my name's not Leon. It's Squall."

Author's Notes: Holy crap! That was the shortest thing I've ever written, including answers to a test in gym class. That's just sad. Oh well. It may be small, but it's meaty. Kind of like a bulky midget, which, if you think about it, is an oxymoron. So is jumbo shrimp. And military intelligence, but that's a different story. One that doesn't have the epitome of all cool assholes in it. And that's why I'm telling this one instead of that one. Hopefully, you understood why I gave this chapter its name. If you didn't understand it, READ A BOOK ONCE IN A WHILE! See you next update.


	6. The Letter

Author's Note: Hey! It's me again! Yay me! Um… yeah. I got nothin'. Just, ignore my ramblings and continue reading.

Disclaimer: See chapter 4. Follow directions from that point on.

Squall looked at the nondescript lump of brown packaging that sat on his bed. Reaching down, he picked up the white envelope that sat atop it. Opening the envelope, he began to read the letter.

_Squall, when you get this letter, I won't be here. That's why I'm writing a letter instead of saying this to your face._

_Hopefully, you'll have dropped the moniker 'Leon'. Partially because it doesn't suit you, and partially because it sucks. Everyone misses you, Squall. Well, everyone except the new sorceress, but, that's a given._

_In short, I wrote this letter to tell you that you're needed. Balamb needs you. Garden needs you. SeeD needs you. Rinoa needs you. I caught her the other day, bawling her eyes out after we failed to find you on yet another world. I had to stop being a jackass and be a kind and sensitive person to convince her otherwise. You owe me big time for that._

_So… yeah. I really don't have much else to say. If you're coming with us, make sure you open the package, or you'll be demoted. And I'll know if you don't. When you're ready, meet me by that cranky duck's store. I'll be there for a few hours. After that, I'll have given up on you._

_Zell._

Squall chuckled as he set the letter down. That was just like Zell. Arrive, visit, eat, and run. Squall picked up the package and tore the paper off. Inside was a familiar set of blue clothing.

"What is that?" Yuffie's voice said from behind him.

"It's my old SeeD uniform. Zell must have snuck it out of my room back at Garden," he answered.

Why'd he bring it?"

"I don't know. Maybe to guilt trip me into coming with him and Rinoa. I'm surprised that he'd think he'd have to. Hey, could you get out please? I have to change."

Impatiently, Zell folded his arms and tapped his foot. He leaned back against the side of Scrooge's giant freezer and huffed.

"Can I help you, laddie?" Scrooge asked, holding an ice cream.

"Nah, I'm just waiting for someone." Zell replied, waving the duck off. Just then, Squall came running from the direction of Merlin's house, decked out in the finery of a member of Seed.

"Am I too late for the party?" he asked when he arrived.

"I'm surprised, 'Leon'. You know the party doesn't start until I get there. I'm not there right now; therefore, the party hasn't started. So what made you change your mind? Was it my brilliant speech last night, or did you just miss me?" Zell answered.

"I'm Squall again. And I think it was a combination of both," Squall answered with a laugh.

Just then, all the fighters from the Restoration Society arrived in the town square.

"What are you guys doing here?" Squall asked them. "Did you come to see us off?"

"No. We were talking, and we realized that, after all you've done here in Radiant Garden, the least we could do to repay you was too help you save you're home," Yuffie answered.

"Excellent more fighters! Booyaka!" Zell shouted.

"I see Selphie's phrase has caught on," Squall observed.

"Not really. I just use it to make her feel better, and it's kind of become a habit," Zell responded. "Shall we go?" When the others nodded, Zell pulled out phone and called Rinoa. "Beam us aboard, Captain!"

"Idiot," came the muffled reply.

End A/N: Sorry about the chapters being so short, but hey, I'm handwriting it all before it goes on the computer. So shut up! You want off so badly then jump. Get off my back. Sorry, I've been watching too much Advent Children lately.


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